Dedrick Epps Talks Offense, ACC, and more

Sophomore tight end/H-back Dedrick Epps spoke to the media this week about a variety of topics, including the ACC race, the evolution of the offense, the situation at quarterback position, and more.

Dedrick Epps has seen lots of playing time this season as a tight-end/h-back, but like the other tight ends, has yet to make a considerable impact. Fortunately for him and fellow tight ends Chris Zellner, Richard Gordon, and Dajleon Farr, it looks like the offense is beginning to utilize the tight-end more.

"We have great receivers and coach Nix has a great gameplan for each game so, we just trust in his game plan for each game," Epps said.

"Yes, it is like in our gameplan, we can go to WRs or TEs. TEs have been getting open more, and for defense its hard for them to stop us because they need to respect the deep ball or then they have to respect the TEs in the flats. If we are open, we'll ge the ball."

Epps, the receiving corps, and the rest of the offense have had an up and down season. It won't get any easier on Saturday, because the status of starting quarterback Kyle Wright is still in question. Shannon was scheduled to make a decision today, but fans most likely won't be able to see who starts the game until it's time for the quarterback to step on the field. Kirby Freeman is expected to start, and although Shannon hasn't explicitly said so, most of the players have been preparing for Kirby to get the nod this week.

"We are confident in both quarterbacks," Epps said. "It doesn't matter if it's Kyle Wright or Kirby Freeman. We are just waiting for Kyle to get healthy, we haven't heard anything about that, so we will run with Kirby, Kirby can step up and get the job done."

"It doesn't matter who the quarterback is. We have confidence in both and both can get the job done. Our offense doesn't change; they take the same # of reps with each quarterback. Since camp, they've gone back and forth to see who is going to be the starter, Kyle started and Kirby came in, we have confidence in both, they both bring great things to the table it doesn't matter who is in there."

The Hurricanes have a lot to play for on Saturday. They currently control their own destiny in the ACC, something that many didn't think would be a reality this late in the season. In the last few seasons, it has been difficult to accurately gauge whether or not the ‘Canes will come out of the gates fast and intense (Texas A&M) or slow and lackadaisically (North Carolina). Epps insisted that will no longer be the case.

"Once we realized we can win the ACC, yeah (we are more rejuvenated) we'll be ready to play," he said.

"We preached that a lot. We are in the driver's seat now so it is up to us to go out and play. We can't go out there like we did v. UNC and just relax and wait until later in the game to try and play, we need to start fast and finish, that is what they are preaching."